


Vanity

by FairsFair



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Fluff, Haircuts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-10-14 03:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17500322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairsFair/pseuds/FairsFair
Summary: Zack accidentally pulls out some of Sephiroth's hair during a fight so Sephiroth makes Zack cut his as retribution. Cloud likes the result more than he feels he should. Zack/Seph, Zack/Cloud.





	1. Whoops

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Zack/Seph/Cloud fic. Cloud shows up in the next chapter!

“You’ll never make it,” Sephiroth had said offhandedly, waving his hand at the other SOLDIER as he turned, his fluttering silver hair a whirling cape as it settled over his shoulders in a bright sheet. Zack had known that the comment had only been to rile him up. This was, after all, Sephiroth’s teaching method. He would strike down his friends to build them up. The words never felt any kinder, even when he knew they weren’t said with malice.

Well, much malice. 

As Zack ducked a punch, blocked--Sephiroth struck a nerve. “Playing hero doesn’t save anyone, Zack. You’re just SOLDIER for the vanity of it.”

Sephiroth had tossed his head--and in an instant, Zack had done quite possibly the most childish fight tactic he’d ever done. 

He’d reached for The Hair.

The Hair was sacred. Though Sephiroth often let it flow freely, nobody dared touch it. Rumor had it that The Hair was flame retardant. Another rumor said the reason it was so long was because Sephiroth had a special treatment that made it harder to cut. Zack never really believed that--Sephiroth still would cut his bangs from time to time. There were rumors about Sephiroth using a whole bottle of shampoo, there were rumors about him taking time out of the day to treat his hair for split ends, there were rumors of catching him doing deep conditionings with products that weren’t ShinRa’s. ShinRa had built a marketing empire on Sephiroth’s hair and it was basically a national treasure.

The silver-haired SOLDIER’s head jerked back and snapped forward when Zack pulled. 

The words had come out of Zack’s mouth before the thought had registered. “Oh shit--” He blurted as Sephiroth whirled around. Their fight was over. Zack stared down at the plug of silver hair in his hand that nearly touched the top of his boot now that it was detached for Sephiroth’s head. 

“Oh shit.” He said again, more apologetic as the thought registered. “Oh shit! I’m--I’m so sorry--I--”

Sephiroth opened his hand slowly in front of the younger SOLDIER. Zack meely put the hair into the other’s open palm like a child being caught shoplifting.

Certainly enough, there was a wide chunk of hair that hung loose at Sephiroth’s neck where the length had previously been, maybe only an inch or two longer than his actual bangs. The man opened his mouth to speak, his mouth opening and closing in silence for a moment as he looked at the lifeless strands in his hand.

Finally, he said, “--Zack, listen.”

“I’ll make it up to you!” Zack said. “Whatever you want. I’ll do it.”

Sephiroth’s brows rose in a way that made Zack’s stomach twist. He shouldn’t have said anything! Dammit!

Sephiroth smiled in that chilling way that made ice crawl up the raven-haired man’s spine. Unsure of how to process it, Zack smiled back, uncertain. 

Sephiroth crossed his arms. “I need to get this fixed.” 

Zack nodded. “I’ll pay for it--” Sephiroth’s hair was probably expensive--to Zack’s knowledge The Hair had its own fanclub with weirdly crazed fangirls who took pictures of the other SOLDIER just for the sake of watching The Hair swish. 

“That’s unnecessary,” Sephiroth replied. “However, you’ll get fixed after.”

The younger SOLDIER tensed. “...Meaning…?” Zack asked, swallowing hard. It was a joke, right? Hell, he knew the whole ‘puppy’ thing was a nickname all of the 1st Classes used for him but he didn’t expect Sephiroth of all people to take it that far! Fixed! What the hell did he mean by fixed?

“You’re getting a haircut, Zack,” the other said bluntly. 

Oh. 

Thank gods.

Zack felt himself relax.

Eye for an Eye. It made sense.

Even still, he felt the tiniest twinge of nausea. Zack rubbed his hand along the spikes of hair at the nape of his neck. He hadn’t cut his hair in about six months--honestly he was fond of the way he looked. It was longer than he’d ever worn it before. The spikes of black hair, brushed off his face, fell around his shoulders in a perfect chaos. Girls liked it. He liked it. It looked good. That being said, a haircut wasn’t a bad price for having pulled out an entire plug of hair from Sephiroth’s head.

Worse things could’ve happened. Sephiroth could’ve had him knocked down a rate or Zack could’ve gotten a pay cut. He could’ve ended up restricted to the building, too. There were also non-professional means of punishment; Sephiroth could’ve straight up stabbed him and Zack probably would’ve let it happen because he felt bad.

Zack shifted from foot to foot. He made a strained noise before finally replying, “That’s fair. “Now?”

“When else?” Sephiroth replied, his hand occupied with the short strands of hair at his collar. Zack could see a smile in the corner of his mouth. He was remarkably relaxed for someone who’d just had his hair yanked out. 

Zack shrugged at the other’s answer. The ShinRa ball was in two days--he didn’t exactly have a ‘date’ for it, but he had been hoping to get one. He was certain he wouldn’t be able to get one if Sephiroth took “revenge” on losing hair. Zack didn’t know if he’d end up with a plug shaved out of his own head or would simply end up with a shaved head, but he’d walked with the other into the city without question in uncharistic silence.

He fidgeted, fingers loosely touching the ends of his hair, or hooking lazily into his pockets, but to the general’s surprise, Zack still said nothing on the entire walk. His gaze would affix to something, the fountain, a balloon, a group of teenagers, a dog--it had been fascinating to watch Zack’s attention flick from object to object so quickly when he was silent. His record stated that he had a reputation for being one of the most observant and detail-oriented SOLDIERs in the field. And yet, he’d constantly forget things he’d deemed unnecessary. Zack would forget a name, but never a face. He’d meticulously remember every single movement required for a training, but forget his meal pass when lunch time came around. Zack forgot things he wanted to remember, but never anything that he needed to remember.

Sephiroth spoke, “I had always believed that you hated haircuts--”

Zack blinked, his foot catching the pavement for a moment as his thoughts ran back to him. He slowed, then caught back up with a laugh. “I do. The sound bothers me.” He straightened up, tossing his head to one side. “Besides, it looks better long.”

Sephiroth’s eyes smiled, but his expression didn’t change. “It does suit you.”

Zack snorted in response. Not that it would matter soon. His eyes cut up to the other. So he made jokes now. The Great Sephiroth was making jokes. Despite himself, Zack elbowed the other in the side and the silver-haired general accidently chuckled and quickly looked away. 

“But yeah. Remember when I used to run away once a month?” Zack mentioned, causing the other to look back with a curious expression. “Every last Monday he’d ask me to go get it cut and I’d just bolt.” Zack’s face lit up, laughing at the memory.

At first, Sephiroth shook his head, but then he nodded as he recalled, “Angeal used to stomp around for a week waiting on you to do get a haircut yourself. Then on Friday--”

“--He’d throw me over his shoulder and drag me there himself.”

“I don’t even think he was embarrassed--” the general responded, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was quite obvious that Sephiroth had been. His eyes cut back to Zack, his attention had flicked elsewhere again as he tugged on the tip of that lock of hair that fell against his cheek. 

“--he’s probably losing his shit right out there somewhere,” he mentioned nonchalantly, for about two seconds, Zack Fair looked years older than he was. “Imagine me going on my own--”

It occured to Sephiroth that perhaps Zack had never gone to get a haircut because nobody was asking him to anymore.

Angeal had been a touchy subject with Zack to say the least. After a few months, people knew not to mention him. Zack rarely brought him up. Silence stretched between the two SOLDIERs and Zack’s eyes widened, his expression suddenly becoming warm. “But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not gonna run.”

“Good,” the general replied coolly. “Because we’re here.

Zack stopped at the shop’s edge and peeked over Sephiroth’s shoulder at the interior. Okay, this was nothing like what he was used to. The shop was extravagant to say the least. White plush chairs, polished surfaces--mirrors everywhere. As Sephiroth sauntered inside, the other SOLDIER stayed put in the doorway.

“Changed your mind?” Sephiroth asked, one slender brow arching upward. 

“N-no,” Zack stammered. He paused, let his eyes flit around the room like they had in the city. Finally, the young SOLDIER’s shoulders eased down and went through the doorway. The shop was quiet, scented like hairspray and roses. There was a white candle on the front desk--along with a bouquet of white lilies and baby’s breath. When he’d seen the flowers, a tension in his jaw released and he unclamped the teeth he didn’t realize he’d been gritting. He looked back at the other man, who seemed to be a dark blot on the white aesthetic of the shop. “You come here for your hair?” Zack asked.

“Sephiroth!” A voice chirped--a delighted sound. 

“Only since recently--” the general replied. 

A blond in a studded black vest zipped out from behind a partition on an exercise ball desk chair. He was another shocking blip on the shop’s aesthetic for a different reason. With tattered jeans and a t-shirt, on the surface it looked like he’d belonged outside. But one look at his hair and anyone could tell he definitely put a lot of effort into his appearance. “Hold on--I’m eating lunch gimmie a sec--”

“Prompto, this is Zack,” Sephiroth said as the sink in the back cut on. It quickly cut off and the blond was scurrying back, his hands wet. He shook them dry as he grinned up at the darker haired SOLDIER. “Zack, this is Prompto.” 

With a soaking wet hand, the blond shook Zack’s. “Heya!” 

“Hey,” Zack said back, his smile easing the last of the tension out of him. It was hard to imagine Sephiroth being handled by anyone like Prompto, despite how nice he was. 

The blond shifted weight on his feet. “So what’s the deal?” he asked, head cocked to one side. 

“Zack is cutting his hair off--” Sephiroth said, causing the other SOLDIER to flinch in an almost comical way. “As for myself,” he explained, unfolding the lock of hair from a pocket inside his coat. “There was an incident.”

Prompto was silent--and after awhile, all he could say was, “Oof.” He crossed his arms, leaning to assess the damage. “Luna’s just about done. She’ll help put everything back--”

“Actually, I want them taken out.”

There was a long stretch of silence as Prompto shrugged. “Cool,” he said. “Either way, just sit and wait for her--” There was an implied sense that Prompto didn’t like handling The Hair either. He turned to Zack. “I’ll take you, though.”

“...Yeah. Hold on.” The raven held up his hand. Zack looked at the pair, then to only Sephiroth, who was seating himself in one of the plush white waiting chairs. “Wait, I’m not following,” Zack said. 

“The Hair is fake, Zack.” Sephiroth said, an odd sort of delight in his eyes. And the way Zack’s mouth was opened only made the smug expression on the other’s face even more impish. 

“Since when?” Came the dazed response.

“I cut it for the Wutai missions.” He replied nonchalantly, his eyes never leaving Zack’s. The raven stood there, taking in the single detail that was Sephiroth--shocked. “Long hair during the war would have been detrimental. I wanted to be certain of our victory, but ShinRa--” Silver brows furrowed. “You should always put your loyalty before your vanity, Zack.” 

“But the other SOLDIERs,” Zack sputtered. “You had a unit with you. They didn’t say anything?”

“Nobody would’ve believed them.” A devious smile crossed Sephiroth’s face that exuded what Zack imagined what Genesis must have been like. “You’re more loyal than I thought. You can leave if you want to.”

Zack was silent, rocking from foot to foot as he looked at the general. His fingers reached to tangle into his hair. Then, slowly, he released the spikes. Six months. He’d gone without a haircut for six months. Why?

A woman came out from behind from a second partition, slipping a brush into her belt. “Hello,” she greeted warmly. Luna fit flawlessly into the aesthetic of the shop with light blond hair and a white dress. She was clean and polished with the gentlest of smiles. She was definitely someone Zack could see Sephiroth trusting. The general rose to his feet to meet her.

“Fuck it--” Zack snapped, throwing his hands in the air and causing Sephiroth to shoot him a look a pure disapproval. He said nothing, brows raised, then turned to leave with Luna. Zack spun on Prompto. “We’re doing this. I’m going to do this.”

“Yeah?” Prompto lit up.

“Yeah!”


	2. Reading Into It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zack has a few regrets after cutting his hair and Cloud is a bit of a fanboy for 1st Class SOLDIERs.

What in Gaia’s name had he actually done? He’d had an out! Zack had legitimately had an out! He never needed to actually do that to himself and yet--

The day before he’d left at least 85%--maybe 90%--of his hair behind on the floor of that shop. What had he done?

At the shop, he’d given his reflection a glance and felt his hands go cold, paid Prompto, and ran home without saying so much as a goodbye to Sephiroth on the way out. The general would find out in good time. Besides, the evidence of Zack’s ‘loyalty’ was more than present enough for Sephiroth to see that he’d went through with his half of the bargain. 

Goddess, this was weird. His hand kept creeping to the sandpaper fuzz of hair on the back of his head. It was really not there. He’d actually done it. The real price of being contrary--Zack had wanted to prove himself--he’d wanted to show Sephiroth that he DID have the same values.

His mission and honor were ranked much higher on his personal radar than his vanity. 

Unfortunately, the next morning he was having a tough time making eye-contact with himself in his bathroom mirror after his shower. 

‘It’s not that bad,’ he told himself. ‘You’re being dramatic.’ 

Zack let out a sigh. Mako blues uneasily raised up to look at his reflection. Now that he’d washed it, it looked a bit different. Prompto certainly had displayed skill--the look was still stylized, but without the sheer amount of product the blond had brushed through to keep it textured. It was nearly dry. It looked softer when it was shorter. It was certainly neater than what he was used to. Zack’s fingers locked into the chaos of spikes at the top of his head. It wasn’t a “bad” look. The single dark lock of hair at his forehead still sprung forward, inches above his brow--refusing to blend with the rest of his hair despite the cut. 

It was new--too new. 

His cellphone buzzed a notification and he’d jumped. He looked down at the notification and relaxed. 

It was Cloud. 

[Text: C. Strife] ‘Hey. Did you see it?’

Another text quickly followed. 

[Text: C. Strife] ‘The news, I mean.’ 

Zack thumbed through his menu and switched on his phone data to check. There were many things Cloud would find important but Zack knew one thing for sure--the blond was crazy for celebrity news. Especially if it when the news happened to be about a certain SOLDIER.

So instead of checking the “real” news, he went directly to social media. Certainly enough, most of his friends were already screaming about yesterday’s incidents. A photo of Sephiroth walking through Midgar with his cup of coffee and his hair chopped above his shoulders had caused the entire population of the city to throw a fit. 

[Text] ‘You mean Seph?’ Zack sent back.

[Text: C. Strife] ‘Yeah.’

[Text] ‘I was totally there when he did it.’

Cloud’s response took a minute. Zack had used the time to get into his uniform--ultimately deciding that today was a helmet day. The hell he was going to face the rest of SOLDIER like that with the Sephiroth shitstorm already at full blast.

[Text: C. Strife] ‘Lol.’   
[Text: C. Strife] ‘Prove it.’

Before he put on his helmet, Zack snapped a quick photo of the lower half of his face, tipping his head to one side to show off ‘the damage’ to the back of his head. Zack hadn’t been ready to show his whole face to everyone just yet--a rare flood of uncharacteristic shyness had consumed him--but he’d sent the picture anyway. Cloud might laugh at his stupidity.

He followed up with another message:   
[Text] ‘I made a terrible mistake while i was there too lol’

\---  
To the blond, Sephiroth’s hair was probably a big deal. Well, it had been a pretty big deal up until the point when Zack had shown him that photo of himself. Something in his chest tightened and rolled over itself. He was more than positive that his heart had stopped. There was no mistaking that photo for anyone other than Zack, but he had to do a double take. There was the scar, the dimples, the mouth he’d stared at over a dozen times, the angles that made up Zack’s jaw--

A dusting of dark hair had replaced the lion's mane of chaotic spikes at the nape of his neck. 

Had Zack Fair actually shaved his head? There was no way in hell he was going to look good like that. Though he was Zack Fair--the man could crawl out of a dumpster fire and be wildly attractive. 

But he’d desperately wished Zack had sent a better photo--or at least something of his entire head. It probably wasn’t a good look if Zack was feeling bad about it. He’d looked at the last sentence on his screen and shut his phone. He’d wanted to see, though. At least maybe Zack would let him snap some photos in the guise of being friendly to rub in his face later and gush about a few years down the line.

‘Remember that time Zack Fair shaved his head?' He'd be prepared to make Zack laugh about it for years. It would be funny.

He could also go back and look, in awe, at the one time in his life Zack Fair wasn’t attractive. Maybe the stupid crush on the guy would go away now--or at least til his hair grew back. Maybe then Cloud would get some peace of mind for like a week. Maybe even two.

He’d gone though his day thinking far too much about it, though. What did Zack look like now? Cloud would do his assignments as they were given: go guard this entryway, patrol that hall, attend this lecture on security, stand at attention for thirty minutes in a group until some SOLDIER decided he wanted to show up and tell him everything was fine and dismiss him. Every time his mind would go idle, his thoughts would slowly wander toward Zack Fair. There was a small fanbase for Zack around the ShinRa building in Midgar. On the surface, Midgar was Sephiroth’s territory. Zack had been far more popular among the newer recruits at Junon base; a charmingly energetic commanding officer who took no shit, but would laugh and compete with his troops in squat contests to see if they would be allowed to have muffins the next day for breakfast if they won. The result would always be no--nobody had ever beat Zack at squats--but it did force the men to push themselves further than they ever had before without too much negative reinforcement. Most of the men that Zack trained personally at Junon became SOLDIERs. 

Only a handful ever failed the exam--not even a dozen.

Cloud's heart sank. Damn. He'd hurt his own feelings. 

That being said, when Zack did get cruel he was crushingly sadistic. If one man in a unit had misbehaved or had acted ”without honor” (aka: was a total asshole and Zack had found out), the entire group would be pushed into intensive activity. They’d either be forced to do a physically intensive virtual mission in the simulator as a group or would be pushed to run several miles when they could’ve been sleeping. It forced his men to hold themselves accountable.

Everyone would hate Zack for those few hours and in the morning, he’d crack a joke and suddenly it was as if he were everyone’s quirky older brother again. If anyone ever asked who the best commanding officer was on any base, the answer was always Zack Fair.

Despite Zack’s popularity in Junon and lackthereof in Midgar, that didn’t mean Zack wasn’t respected. 

Everyone knew Zack Fair. 

And everyone went hush when he was behaving strangely.

A 1st Class strode down the hallway towards him. It wasn’t hard to guess who was walking with such bouncy speed on this floor, but since his face was concealed, Cloud treated the man like any other: he straightened his body to a rigid salute, chin up, shoulders squared. The 1st Class mimicked the motion and waited for Cloud to drop his salute.

When he did, the 1st Class still held his salute--

“Ding dong, you are wrong,” Zack said--his words too quick to make out. Lower ranks were meant to hold their salute for as long as their commanding officer did. Cloud already knew he was wrong. But he also knew this man would make him hold a salute for two hours for shits and giggles. If it were up to Zack, he would've stood there all day just to be an ass. 

“You weren’t going to drop your salute first, sir.” The other replied.

“You’re absolutely right,” The SOLDIER laughed. He relaxed in front of the cadet, his lips suddenly slinking into a smile under the visor of his helmet. “But you’re still wrong.”

Without being instructed to, Cloud relaxed. Zack moved to stand next to him and elbowed Cloud in the side. “What are you up to?” Cloud was completely concealed beneath his helmet, but he didn’t dare look higher than Zack’s neck when he’d spoken to him.

“Guarding this entryway, sir.” the blond said dryly. 

The helmet the raven wore had done a fine job of hiding the damage done to his hair, just barely showing the ghost of dark stubble at his collar.

Everyone could recognize Zack Fair from the shape of his body. If they couldn’t recognize him by the defined shoulders that only Zack sported from wielding the Buster sword, they could certainly recognize him by his unmistakable ass. Being the squat champion of SOLDIER did that to a man. Sephiroth’s hair might have it’s own fanclub, but Cloud was more than certain that Zack’s ass had its own fucking religion. 

“Is Seph back there?” Zack asked sullenly, nodding toward the door.

“Yeah.” Cloud replied blankly. “Zack Fair’s curious about the damage he’s supposedly seen with his own eyes, huh?”

“Okay--” Zack blurted, lifting his hands. “Listen. Hey. How’d you know it was me?”

Cloud refrained from mentioning the ass-and-shoulders detail. “Your scar, stupid.” 

The SOLDIER clapped his hand over his cheek. “Damn! You’re right.” The raven’s eyes were concealed by his helmet but by the way Zack’s nose scrunched, Cloud could tell that they were smiling. The corner of Zack’s lip turned upward. He removed his hand. “Alright so--” Zack whispered. “This story is crazy and I can’t keep you for too long. I’ll tell it all later, okay? Dinner at my place, yeah?”

Cloud shrugged. “Whatever.” He’d be there.

Zack shrugged in reply. 

“--But anyway,” Zack blurted. “I ran right out of the shop after I realized what I did. It was stupid. I haven’t seen Sephiroth yet. He hasn’t seen me.”

Cloud straightened, his head shifting coyly over toward the other. “Do I get to see what you’ve done to yourself?”

Zack shook his head, his cheeks turning ruddy. “Nope!” he chuckled quietly. “Sorry but nobody gets to see this.” He gestured vaguely at his head. “Ever.”

“Not even at dinner?” Cloud replied. 

“Nah,” Zack said. “I’m gonna answer the door with a bag over my head.”

“So, what?” The blond laughed. “You’re just going to refrain from dating til it grows back in a few months?”

“Nope. I can date without my face.” Zack shrugged, a cocky smile breaking across the lower half of his expression. “Got you to say yes to dinner already. Right?”

Cloud could’ve choked. His heart flung itself somewhere near his brain. What did that mean? Was Zack implying that their dinner was going to be a date? Was he joking? He had to be joking. After all, Zack loved cute people. Tiny, delicate, cute people! Cloud might have been a small guy but he wasn’t exactly ‘dainty’. He wasn’t cute!

Though, he’d heard that Zack had done some questionable things with Sephiroth in the past-- but that couldn’t have been true. Not with the way that Sephiroth looks at him with such exasperation all the time. Unless--

Was affectionate exasperation a thing?

Before Cloud could ask any of these questions, the door behind him opened and instinctively the blond had stepped aside.

“Zack,” came the cool voice from over Cloud’s shoulder. A chill ran down the blond's spine. He’d forgotten he was guarding the entryway to a room where Sephiroth had been working. 

The silver-haired general walked between the pair and turned to face them.

“Okay--” Zack sputtered. “How did you know it was me?” 

Sephiroth shrugged. “How could I not know it was you, Zack?”

Cloud looked straight ahead. Sephiroth had definitely recognized Zack by his ass. No doubt about it. Maybe there was more to those rumors than he’d thought. 

Was he reading too far into this? He was reading into this. 

His eyes flicked down the general briefly, thankfully he was just as covered by the helmet of his uniform as Zack had been by his own. In person he could see that the rumors about Sephiroth had been true. The general was wearing his hair back in a tight braid that just barely brushed his shoulder.

“Huh,” Zack noted, an appreciative tone in his voice. “That actually suits you.”

“Apparently the press thinks so too.” The general noted, his hand raising to rub his temple. It may have been a ‘shoot me’ motion too, Cloud couldn’t tell since he’d been too startled by the two 1sts bantering right in front of his eyes. Zack alone was one thing. Sephiroth alone was another. And together?

Yikes. But honestly? What a gift, also.

“And what do you look like under there?” Sephiroth said, his voice darkly cruel. 

“Frankly,” Zack said abruptly. “It’s none of your business.”

Cloud swore it got quiet enough to hear a pin drop. The temperature in the hall dropped five degrees. With Sephiroth right next to him, he didn’t dare look over at Zack. He didn’t move. Cloud only clutched his shotgun a little tighter to his chest--as if grasping it firmly would help him concentrate at the task at hand. 

“Take off the helmet, Zack,” Sephiroth purred kindly, first.

“Nuh-uh.” 

“Zack. You made a deal.” The second request from Sephiroth held an invisible threat. The second time he was firm. “Remove your helmet.”

Zack’s next reply was just as hard. “No.”

“Zack.” Sephiroth warned. The silent order that followed it was definitely mandatory. The younger SOLDER let out a long, deflating sigh. Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud could see Zack lift his hands.

“You don’t have to be such a brat--” Zack grumbled. Cloud could hear the eye-roll without looking. 

“Excuse me?” Sephiroth's tone dripped with a dangerously bright confidence. His eyes dared Zack to try to say anything else.

“I said nothing, sir.”

Was Zack aware Sephiroth could kill him? The blond kept his eyes set dead ahead as Zack took the helmet off. There had been fury in Sephiroth’s face that had been quickly replaced with…

Wide-eyed shock. And then Sephiroth dropped eye-contact. Sephiroth’s stoic expression had actually wavered. He’d looked down. Then he looked somewhere away. “Oh,” Sephiroth said. It was all he said for a good five seconds. 

“Give it to me,” Sephiroth said finally.

Zack groaned but pushed his helmet into the other’s outstretched hands. 

What did that mean? Was it awful? Was it hilarious? He didn’t want to turn his head to look at Zack in front of Sephiroth. Cloud felt his gun slip out of his grip. He caught it right in time, and stayed still as a statue until--

“You.” Sephiroth said. Cloud's arm shook so bad, the rifle clattered against his belt. 

“Dismissed,” The general said. Leave.

Cloud turned on his heels and left, his curiosity screaming at him to look back but his senses kept telling him to keep going. 

He’d see later at dinner, right?


End file.
